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Chapter 2: Biology and Evolution
Detailed Chapter Outline
I.
CHALLENGE ISSUE AND CHAPTER OUTLINE
II.
EVOLUTION AND CREATION STORIES
A.
A common part of all cultures is a mythology that explains how humans
came about on earth
a. Mythologies and creation stories differ from evolution, which relies
upon scientific language
b. Creation stories depict the relationship between humans and the rest of
the natural world
B.
Evolution is the scientific way to explain how species appear and change
over time
a. Evolution is based on testable ideas, which separates it from creation
stories
b. Evolution is not ‘just’ a theory
c. Evidence for evolution is so overwhelming that most scientists accept
it as fact
III.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF LIVING THINGS
A.
How humans have classified the world and life forms have changed over
time and continue to exhibit variation
a. Early classification systems, such as the Great Chain of Being, were
challenged based on early European exploration
B.
Avoiding the biases of the Great Chain of Being, Carolus Linnaeus
developed the Systema Naturae classification system
a. Linnaeus’ classification system was based on:
i. Body structure
ii. Body function
iii. Sequence of bodily growth
C.
Modern taxonomic systems retain Linnaeus’ classification structure;
however, they are also based on protein structure and genetic material
D.
Modern taxonomic systems are also based on cross-species comparisons,
which enable the examination of analogies and homologies
IV.
THE DISCOVERY OF EVOLUTION
A.
European exploration and European industrialization challenged
previously held ideas on species “fixity” or that species did not change
over time
B.
Ideas such as “Catastrophism” were invoked to help explain the
disappearance of certain species, while still being faithful to religious
doctrine
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C.
D.
E.
Charles Darwin, however, formulated the Theory of Natural Selection
“that has withstood the test of time”
a. Darwin’s theory was influenced by the works of Erasmus Darwin and
Thomas Malthus
b. Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection culminated in his seminal text
On the Origin of Species (1859)
While Darwin provided the idea behind how species change over time or
evolve, parts of his theory were incomplete
a. Two questions haunted Darwin’s theory:
i. “How did the variation arise in the first place?”
ii. “What was the mechanism of heredity by which variable traits
could be passed from one generation to the next?”
Contemporary and historical advancements in heredity, molecular
genetics, cellular biology, and population genetics provide support for
Darwin’s evolutionary theory
V.
HEREDITY
A.
The work of Gregor Mendel would eventually advance the field of cellular
biology and molecular genetics
B.
Gregor Mendel was instrumental in explaining:
a. Particulate inheritance
b. Law of Segregation
c. Independent Assortment
C.
Other components of contemporary/historical genetic research that support
Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection are:
a. Chromosomes
b. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
c. Genes
d. Alleles
e. Cell Division
i. mitosis
ii. meiosis
f. Heterozygous and homozygous
g. Genotype and phenotype
h. Dominance and Recessive
i. Polygenetic inheritance
VI.
EVOLUTION, INDIVIDUALS, AND POPULATIONS
A.
At individual levels, the study of genetics illustrates how parents pass
traits on to their offspring
B.
At the level of the group or population, the study of genetics reveals
evolutionary processes and how they affect the levels and patterns of
biodiversity on earth
C.
Four evolutionary forces active at the population level are:
a. Mutation
b. Genetic Drift
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Instructor’s Manual: Chapter 2
D.
E.
i. A particular type of genetic drift is the “Founder’s Effect”
ii. This was likely to have been significant in human evolution
given small population sizes
c. Gene flow
d. Natural Selection
i. Adaptation in natural selection is the collection of beneficial
adjustments that a population makes to the environment
ii. It can only act on pre-existing genetic variation
Mutations are the ultimate source of new genetic material due to the
constant induction of new genetic material
A well-studied case of human adaptation to particular environment types
is sickle-cell anemia
a. The presence of high rates of sickle-cell anemia correlate with world
regions that have high rates of malaria
b. In these malarial environments sickle-cell was an adaptive and
beneficial genetic trait
c. In world regions without high rates of malaria, sickle-cell anemia
became a disadvantageous trait
VII.
ADAPTATION AND PHYSICAL VARIATION
A.
Biological diversity is often studied and mapped out in clines
B.
This approach of analyzing the spatial distribution of certain human traits
enables anthropologists to identify the correlation between the trait’s
adaptive function and its relationship to the environment
a. For example, people in cold climates tend to exhibit greater body bulk
and people in hot climates tend to be tall and slender
VIII.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter, having fully read it and reviewed the central themes, students
should be able to:
1.
Describe Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection.
2.
List and discuss the four main evolutionary forces that are responsible for the vast
biological variation present in human and non-human populations.
3.
Explain the differences between Creation stories and evolution.
4.
Trace the history of species classification, from the Great Chain of Being to the
modern taxonomic system.
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5.
Compare the similarities and differences between Linnaeus’ classification system
and contemporary taxonomic systems.
6.
Differentiate analogies and homologies.
7.
Explain how European exploration and Europe’s industrial revolution were key
factors in the emergence of evolutionary theory.
8.
Trace out the history of Charles Darwin and how he formulated his Theory of
Natural Selection.
9.
Understand the importance behind Gregor Mendel’s experiments with pea plants.
10.
List and discuss the main processes and components that explain heredity.
a.
Genes
b.
Law of Segregation
c.
Independent Assortment
d.
Chromosomes
e.
DNA
f.
Alleles
g.
Mitosis
h.
Meiosis
i.
Homozygous and Heterozygous
j.
Dominant and Recessive
k.
Genotypes and Phenotypes
11.
Explain how population genetics work and their role in evolution.
a.
Mutation
b.
Genetic Drift
c.
Founder’s Effect
d.
Gene Flow
e.
Natural Selection
f.
Adaptation
12.
Describe the importance of sickle-cell anemia in understanding how evolution
works and how traits are context dependent.
13.
Describe the role of clines in understanding how and why traits are spread across
geographic space.
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Instructor’s Manual: Chapter 2
Key Terms
Adaptation
Alleles
Analogies
Chromatid
Chromosomes
Clines
DNA
Dominance
Evolution
Founder’s Effect
Gene Flow
Gene Pool
Genus (Genera)
Genes
Genetic Drift
Genome
Genotype
Hemoglobin
Heterozygous
Homologies
Homozygous
Law of Independent Assortment
Law of Segregation
Mammals
Meiosis
Mitosis
Mutation
Natural Selection
Phenotype
Polygenetic Inheritance
Population
Primates
Recessive
Sickle-cell Anemia
Species
Taxonomy
Lecture Suggestions
1.
Discuss the often contentious relationship between evolution and creationism.
2.
Illustrate how science and evolution attempt to answer different questions than
religion and religious doctrine.
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3.
Describe the role of biology in human adaptation to various environmental
conditions. In regards to our physical limitations, discuss the ways that culture
has allowed us to circumvent our biologies and live in various types of
environments.
4.
Explore the history of Darwin and why his Theory of Natural Selection was, on
the one hand, “simple or obvious” and, on the other hand, so controversial.
5.
Examine different examples of clinal distribution. Provide examples outside the
text that illustrate both gradual and discontinuous clinal distributions. Have your
students attempt to explain why these physical characteristics might be distributed
across geographic space in these patterns.
6.
Compare the differences between Linnaeus’ classification system and
contemporary taxonomic systems.
7.
Examine each of the four main processes of population genetics and evolution.
8.
Further discuss in class the importance behind Thomas Malthus’ concept of
Carrying Capacity and how it greatly influenced many of Darwin’s ideas on
competition, selection, and evolution.
9.
Explain the importance of mutation in natural selection.
10.
Provide your students with a real or fictive genotypic and phenotypic makeup of a
breeding parent generation. Have your students determine, based on their
knowledge of heredity and dominant and recessive traits, what genotypes and
phenotypes would emerge in the second and third generation.
InfoTrac Exercises
1.
The debates surrounding evolution and creationism are heated at times and if you
simply used creationism as your keyword, you would get hundreds and hundreds
of returns. Narrow the field by using the keywords intelligent design creationism
evolution. Explore the articles that come up and see the diversity of arguments
that center on this debate.
2.
Using the keywords great chain of being, find Stephen Jay Gould’s article
“Bound by the Great Chain.” What are the historical foundations for this
particular view of evolution and how does Gould handle the concept in this
article?
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Instructor’s Manual: Chapter 2
Internet Exercises
1.
2.
Dennis O’Neil’s Anthropology Tutorials at Palomar College provides lessons and
activities to test students’ knowledge of evolution, biological adaptation, and
human variation. Go to http://anthro.palomar.edu/tutorials/ and focus on the
evolution and biological adaptation tutorials. Take the associated Flashcard
Quizzes to see what you know and what you need to work on.
The mapping of the human genome has arguably been one of the more ambitious
projects in human history. Go to the Human Genome Project’s website
http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml and write a
one to two page paper on what the project is and what are the main goals of the
project. Follow the “What’s Next?” link to see the future of this project.
3.
Based on your exploration of the Anthropological code of ethics and the code of
ethics as set forth by the AAA and those possibly discussed in class, what are
some of the ethical, legal, and social issues brought about by the Human Genome
Project?
4
Students may sometimes confuse genetic drift and gene flow, or be unable to fully
understand the importance of genetic drift to evolution. Besides having a
tremendous wealth of information, the http://www.talkorigins.org/ website
explains and explores the role of genetic drift. You can use the “Search the
Archive” link on the website and use
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